Zoning-In!

Have you experienced yourself in the middle of the workplace barraged by the noise of people talking? And you have a killer deadline to come up with something new, unique, creative even! Or as a mom working from home — where the sound of kids running around is enough to drive you mad, especially if you were doing some work that needs concentration. It’s a common enough experience for many of us to experience the dreaded word: STRESS. Work is among the greatest challenges to one’s health and well-being where high levels of stress result in anxiety. Stress is the result of one’s inability to meet the demands of work, a major factor of which is distraction. I know of people who end up having nervous breakdowns, break at the seams, or just lose focus due to anxiety attacks.

Unfortunately, we have to work for reasons that go beyond the need to have food on the table, such as career growth, settling down and providing a future for our children. The best we could do is to cope by inducing a feeling of relaxation and mental focus through various natural means. The ability to achieve mental alertness is a talent one has to learn to achieve today in this busy 21st century world. Not everyone has the luxury to hole themselves up in silence in an empty room. Therefore, techniques of concentration and mind control need to be learned. They have become survival modes if we want to continue to function with balance and equilibrium in the kind of world we have today.

Survival tips? First, use the power of the breath. One has to learn to just focus on the inhale and exhale, expanding it longer and deeper. This rhythmic method relaxes the mind’s waves. By inhaling and exhaling, one lets go of irritable, static energy that can create stress. The resultant state of relaxation stills the mind, making it enter an “altered” state. The Zone of concentration is achieved.  Noise, sound and even exterior movements are block out and there is a heightening of the internal focus. Clarity for mental or creative work can then begin. We need such a state, a zone, so that we can “call down the spheres” from where inspiration stems from. This zone links one to the muse of creative inspiration, to the guardian of mental clarity and logic. So breath is the first and foremost tool we can use.

There are also outside stimulants that can help us “zone-in.” The practice of drinking tea has been more than a tradition. Tea has always been known to have medicinal properties, from calming effects to bringing one to a state of equilibrium. But tea has never been known to help mental focus. New studies, however, show that theanine, an amino acid uniquely found in green tea, helps the brain achieve sustained mental focus. Suddenly, green tea-drinking has become popular again with a steady rising demand for it!

Major producers of food and beverage companies have been developing products focused under the Health and Wellness banner to combat the stresses of the 21st century. The last couple of years has shown a number of flavored tea drinks sprouting in the market. Lipton, an old name in the business of tea drinking focused on a campaign called “Get in the Zone,” aimed to encourage yuppies to be effective in their work and perfect their crafts by achieving a stronger mental focus. By enticing them away from carbonated drinks and coffee, Lipton hopes to provide a healthier alternative for young people to embrace the ancient tradition of tea drinking.

Someone in my office just mentioned to me that because he was not able to find time to quiet down and do yoga, his concentration was shot and he was quick to his temper. Coffee didn’t help, and carbonated colas were just mere stimulants that didn’t sit well with him. He had begun to drink hot green tea upon my suggestion and has noticed a marked change. Personally, I enjoy the infusions of herbal teas with flavors. Good quality green tea leaves direct from China are shipped all over the world today, and it is only because I cannot read the Chinese characters in their boxes, that I have to rely on Chinese friends for help in purchasing them. Many gourmet and healthy brands now have green teas in sachets so it is easier to enjoy the soothing taste while ingesting all that theanine.

Facts about theanine

• Besides inducing a state of relaxation, theanine in tea decreases cluttering of the mind. Studies have shown that theanine, which is an amino acid, produces a stimulating effect on the brain’s alpha waves thus improving the person’s mental ability. This amino acid is related to glutamine, which, among its other functions, serves as an alternative fuel to the brain. Theanine can also cross the blood-brain barrier, and because it can enter the brain, this amino acid has psychoactive properties. 

• Theanine is also known to increase brain serotonin, a compound that regulates the mood of the person, and dopamine, which regulates the flow of information in the brain thereby affecting the brain’s attention, memory and problem-solving functions. Theanine also promotes alpha wave production in the brain.

• The amount of theanine contained in two to three cups of tea (50mg) significantly increases alpha activity which is associated with a relaxed but alert mental state and is important for the ability to focus attention. Increasing intake to 8 cups enhances the effect whole day long.